1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to landscaping equipment, and in particular to a landscaping barrier.
2. Background of the Invention
A common piece of landscaping equipment found in many landscaped configurations is the landscaping barrier, which serves to prevent grass from overgrowing adjacent ground, such as flower beds, etc. Thus the landscaping barrier serves to separate the lawn from the mulch covering the flower bed, or bare ground, as the case may be. Weedeaters are frequently used to trim the lawn adjacent the landscaping barrier.
Currently available barriers are typically fabricated of elastomer extrusions such as synthetic rubber or plastic, and so are somewhat flexible to accommodate lawn/flower bed curvature. Other barriers are made of metal such as aluminum. Most barriers are designed to be simply pushed into the ground, while others incorporate stakes to help hold them in place. This latter design suffers from the usual attendants of complexity: increased material cost and more difficult installation.
There are a number of problems inherent in the current landscaping barrier designs. Most lack a means to maintain the barrier erect, so the barrier tends to fall over and become ineffective.
Another problem is that current barrier designs tend to sink into the ground over time. This reduces their height above ground, and reduces their effectiveness at separating a lawn from the adjacent ground, because the grass is able to simply send out shoots into the adjacent ground over the sunken barrier.
Still another problem with existent barrier designs is that, especially in sandy soils, the barriers tend to pull out of the ground and to fall over. Laying on their sides, the barriers are ineffective in preventing the lawn overgrowing the adjacent soil. Finally, although weedeaters are often used to trim the lawn adjacent landscaping barriers in order to give the lawn/flower bed border a nice "finished" look, current landscaping barrier designs do not incorporate a weedeater line guide so as to provide the gardener with a reference to establish the correct grass cut height.
Existing Designs
A number of patents have been granted for landscape barriers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,969,289 was granted Trifdetti for a Garden Edging Device. While possessed of a horizontal segment which prevented it from sinking into the ground, it suffered from the disadvantages of not having a means to keep it from pulling out of the ground, nor of having a weedeater line guide.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,201,154 was granted Thomas for a Landscape Edging and Methods of Manufacturing Same. Although this device incorporated projections and soil sockets to keep the Edging from sinking into the ground or from coming out of the ground, these appeared dimensionally small and of questionable efficacy. In addition, the Edging lacked a means to maintain itself upright, and did not provide a weedeater line guide.
Emalfarb et al. were granted U.S. Pat. No. 4,281,473 for a landscaping bed divider. This design included upwardly canted lips to prevent the divider from sinking into the ground, but did not incorporate a means of preventing it from sinking into the ground, nor of maintaining itself upright, nor a weedeater line guide.